This prompt was slightly more difficult to write. Sorry for the short length... Gahhhhh I need to start writing longer fics with the prompts I get!1! ANYWAY, as always feedback is greatly encouraged and appreciated(: *whispers* this is also my first Cecilos fic (Oh and since we don't know any nurses in night vale I may have made a Star Trek reference because I can *winks*)

This was normal. Well, Night Vale wasn't the most normal of places... But this, this was normal. Cecil stared at the dark wall frustratingly, eyes red and watering, legs pulled up to his chest where he sat on his bed. Unable to clear his mind, unable to relax, unable to fall asleep. It had started again. The worry, the stress, the sleepless nights, staying awake for days and feeling lost. It hadn't been this bad since... Well he didn't want to think about that at the time. He couldn't understand why it's been getting so bad lately. He was used to the faceless old woman in his home by now, she was actually quite the charmer and kindly switched up the pages of all his books on a regular basis. He enjoyed the idea of having to solve a puzzle while reading. Street cleaning day was long past and the doppelgängers were pretty much gone for good. He hasn't broken any regulations lately and there hasn't been any big envelopes shoved under his door at the station. The hooded figures in the dog park, which don't exist, haven't been causing any sort of trouble towards the town either. He even got another call from intern Dana. She still doesn't know where she is but she's confident that she'll figure this all out. At least she's safe for the time being. But Cecil still found himself unable to close his eyes for good, starting to feel uncomfortable in his usually homey environment. It's been days, almost a week except for the fact that Wednesday had in fact been canceled again due to a scheduling error... (The city council really needs to get that under control).

Cecil was still sitting on his bed, his eyes open and staring at the wall, when the sun came up again. He knew he wasn't even close to stable enough to go through with his day, but he couldn't let Night Vale down. Cecil made his way to the studio wearing the same clothes from yesterday and looking quite hellish, his third eye unwilling to stay open wider than a slit and his tentacle tattoos not as sporadic as usual. But this was all normal, wasn't it? That was the problem...

"Erm... Good morning Night Vale. Unless of course you are not having that good a morning, such as myself, than I wish you to have a better evening..." Cecil's voice faltered and cracked once causing one of the new interns to walk in, looking concerned. His hand on the mike loosened and his vision began to get hazy. The worried voices of a few interns sounded far away and quite staticky as though they were replaced with hooded figures(which were in no way existent).

"As I was... As I was saying, Night Vale, it seems that I may be on the verge of a... Of collaps-" with that Cecil was on the ground, unsure of how he got there and still quite unable to let himself lose conscienceless. There was a rush of movement around him, along with several concerned staticky voices, before he found himself lying in one of Night Vale's hospital beds as if he had transported there. But even in Night Vale, that wasn't remotely possible, was it? His vision started to focus on a blinding light above his head, causing him to throw his arms over his eyes and moan.

"...How did I... I don't remember-"

"Try not to think about it, Cecil. Carlos the scientist is on his way here to pick you up, try to get some sleep. You still haven't allowed yourself to sleep. It isn't healthy." That voice wasn't remotely familiar but Ceil's vision wasn't completely intact at the moment, nor could he possibly think hard enough to form words to ask, so figuring out who the kind woman was is out of the question. But... Carlos. Perfect, beautiful, Carlos was coming to pick him up. Did he actually care that much about him? Cecil wondered what exactly did happen. He remembers collapsing, but nothing in between then and here. Luckily he couldn't detect any scent of vanilla...

"You don't need any medication this time, Cecil. You're just stressed. What with all the chaos lately, y'know, more than the usual... Intern Dana being lost in that - actually I'm not too sure where she is - and Carlos's incident earlier this month..." Cecil flinched slightly at the thought and wished the nurse would stop talking. Wait, this time? Is that nurse Christine-?

"Cecil!" Carlos's voice carried down the crowded hallways of the hospital and Cecil managed a smile. He blinked his eyes continuously and his vision cleared a little as he watched Carlos practically run into the room, breathing heavily and looking slightly paler than his usual dark skin.

"I heard your broadcast... " He huffed and rushed over to the bedside, hardly waiting for an approving glance from the kind nurse that may or may not be Christine, before scooping Cecil off the bed and cradling him against his chest, arms along his back and underneath his knees, clearly in a hurry to get them out of there. If Cecil hadn't been as tired and worn out as he was he would have had an excited conniption fit, though his cheeks still gained a light shade of purple and the lightning storm outside seemed to calm.

"Do I have to sign him out or-"

"I wouldn't advise it... The city council would want further information and it could lead to- Never mind. It doesn't matter, I never signed him in. He was never here."

"Thank you."

"No problem. This town would be lost without our newscaster. And Cecil, try to stay calm and get some rest, you're controlling the weather again..." It was nurse Christine. She always had to deal with his problems such as this one while he was growing up.

"Thanks Christine." Cecil focused on the older woman's smile and managed a small smile of his own in return.

Carlos tried his best to get Cecil to sleep on the drive to his apartment but it wasn't working. Instead, Cecil was worrying about every single thing under the void and starting to panic again. Thinking there was something too normal going on with him. Carlos didn't understand the half of his consistent babbling but tried his best to calm him down as they pulled into the small parking area around Carlos's apartment and the storms began to pick up again. Cecil ensured him that he was able to walk even though it almost pained him to turn down Carlos' help. He took a few steps, tripping over his own feet, and would have fallen if Carlos hadn't grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. By that time it was pouring down rain and tears were lining under Cecil's bloodshot purple eyes.

"What's wrong... With me? I was wrong - I should have known this was too normal." Carlos frowned and pulled off his lab coat to wrap it around the newscaster's shoulders as he stood there shivering.

"You've got it all wrong, Cecil. Normal is okay. You deserve to have a breakdown once in awhile." He pulled him against his chest as the wind blew harder and Cecil looked at him sadly, completely lost and still shivering as the rain came down harder. "But it's getting pretty bad out here, we need to get you inside and sleeping before you create a hurricane." Cecil chuckled softly against his chest before pulling back, a small smile playing at his lips.

"I think y-you should be m-more worried a-about the tornado beginning to f-form over by the dog park." Cecil's voice was shaking almost as much as he was. Carlos picked him up again in one swift movement before rushing indoors, climbing the stairs two at a time and making sure to lock the door to keep them secluded from any other Night Vale craziness. He wasn't sure if anyone had noticed them leaving the hospital, but he didn't want to risk finding out the hard way.

"I-I can try to sleep... On y-your couch? If that's okay-"

"Cecil, stop talking and focus on sleeping before you cause the tornado to finish forming." Carlos interrupted and led him into his room before carefully laying him under the sheets, gathering a few other blankets from the living room to wrap around him also as his shivering began to cease. Winter air plus pouring rain didn't go well together in the staying-warm department. Cecil looked taken aback at this, eyes wide as Carlos laid down beside him, sighing in relief as the weather outside calmed down, the rain no longer beating against the window.

"Will you...?"

"I'll be here."

"But-"

"Close your eyes, Cecil." Cecil sighed and squinted his eyes shut, clearly not understanding the concept of trying to sleep. It only took a minute or two before his eyes shot open again and he stared at Carlos pleadingly, eyes wet.

"I... I can't."

"You can. Just relax and close your eyes."

"Promise you'll stay?"

"Promise." Cecil smiled weakly as he tried closing his eyes again, a few disregarded tears that had been on the verge of falling now rolling down his cheek and causing Carlos to frown. He wished he knew what was gong through Cecil's mind, but all he could do was try to fix him without knowing what was breaking him apart. Cecil was always so good with words and Carlos was never really good at expressing his feelings. Or talking in general. So instead he leaned in and hesitantly pressed his lips to Cecil's eyelids, smiling as his felt Cecil relax against him. It didn't take long for Cecil to finally fall asleep, curled up against Carlos, both of them wrapped in every blanket Carlos owned. Sometimes normal was okay, especially when you live in a town such as this one. It might take some time, but as long as Cecil was in Carlos's arms, he didn't have to figure out how to 'fix' him, they'd be alright.